The AP7 blacklist is revised twice a year, in June and in December. As of 16 June 2021, two new companies have been blacklisted. A total of 86 companies are blacklisted and excluded from the fund’s investment universe. The aim of the blacklisting is to exert pressure on companies that violate international norms to change their conduct. Blacklisting is thereby an engagement tool, alongside other tools such as company dialogues and voting at general meetings.
AP7 invests in companies that in an acceptable way adhere to the international norms and conventions signed by Sweden. These are expressed in the UN Global Compact’s ten principles on human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. AP7 does not invest in companies involved in the development or production of nuclear weapons. Since 2016 the Paris Agreement to the UN Climate convention (UNFCCC) is included in our norms-based screening. The blacklisting methods was broadened during 2020 to exert influence on companies that continue to expand their fossil-fuel activities in coal production and coal power, thereby counteracting the goals in the Paris Agreement.
The two new blacklisted companies, as of 16 June 2021, are Huaneng Power International INC and Power Construction Corporation of China, Ltd. Huaneng Power International is blacklisted due to acting against the targets of the Paris agreement by expanding its coal operations. Power Construction Corporation of China is blacklisted due to involvement in the violation of environmental norms at the World Heritage site of the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.
Read the complete blacklist: AP7 blacklist as of 16 June 2021